Patient sues over injection gone wrong

Testimony: Patient sat up before procedure was complete

Sanford Schmidt, sschmidt@civitasmedia.com

Published
10:59 pm CDT, Tuesday, September 22, 2015

EDWARDSVILLE — A jury Tuesday began hearing a medical malpractice case against an Edwardsville surgical center and Glen Carbon doctor, in which the plaintiff claims she was severely injured by a spinal injection that was intended to ease her pain.

Connie Duft of Maryville named Dr. Gregory Randle and Edwardsville Ambulatory Surgery Center, claiming the doctor injected medication into the patient’s spine, rather than the “epidural space,” which is a space within the vertebrae. The procedure was on Jan. 22, 2013. Granite City Illinois Hospital Co., which operates the center, was also named.

“The injection caused atrial fibrillation, weakness and paralysis on her right side, and extreme pain,” according to a summary of the case on file in court records.

The jury heard a deposition Tuesday in which the doctor said the patient moved, and he terminated the procedure.

A nurse, Lynn Broeckling, was also heard in a recorded deposition testifying that Duft sat up just before the procedure was completed. Duft appeared nervous and suffering from restless leg syndrome, she said. “As he was finishing up the injection, she came up,” the nurse testified.

The nurse said she gave the patient a sedative just before the procedure.

She described a procedure in which the patient is laying face-down. An anesthetic is injected, followed by an injection of a steroid. The procedure was to treat her non-debilitating neck and shoulder pain. Much of the testimony and court records centered on who was responsible to keep the patient still.

She was drowsy from a sedative medication and came up unexpectedly, Broeckling testified.

The case summary said that after the injection, Duft was taken to Barnes Hospital Intensive care unit and then to the Anderson Hospital rehabilitation unit.

The plaintiff claims the defendants were negligent and caused paralysis and severe motor deficits. Part of the defendants’ case involves a claim that the plaintiff was already suffering from some disability before Jan. 22, 2013.

The five-count suit is asking for at least $50,000 in each count. Duft is represented by Simmons Hanley Conroy of Alton. The defendants are represented by Behr, McCarter & Potter of St. Louis.